John Kirby Day

Friday Roundup: Music, Open Houses, and Images

Tonight, March 15, is the John Kirby Tribute Concert at Westminster-Canterbury. The concert will celebrate this Winchester-born jazzman who played a significant role developing “classical jazz” in the 1930s and 40s. Bob Larson, Chair of Jazz Studies at Shenandoah University’s Conservatory, will lead a jazz sextet recreating John Kirby’s “Onyx Club Band,” with an appreciation by Alan Williams, grandson of John Kirby. The event is open to the public, $10/person admission at the door. A portion of the proceeds goes to the SVWC Fellowship Fund.

The Patsy Cline Historic House will be hosting a volunteer open house day March 23 and 24. If you would like to learn more about volunteering, please join PCHH’s staff and volunteers for a special open house on Saturday, March 23 from 10am to 2pm, and Sunday, March 24 from 1pm to 4pm. Volunteers provide the vibrant spark that makes the site both educational and compelling. If you enjoy being a docent for Holiday House Tour, check out this opportunity.

The CUP for the old hospital site was tabled on Tuesday. The public hearing portion of the application is now closed, but Council has requested the applicant return with more information on how it plans to mitigate the concerns raised by neighbors and council members. Parking and the increase of traffic in the neighborhood, as well as the scale of the building, remain major concerns. The item is planned to return to City Council on March 26.

We have also added about 34 images to our Flickr account since our last update, including Revolving Fund documentary photos of Cameron Street, contact sheets of event photos connected to the Kurtz Cultural Center, and three photos connected with Miss Lucy Kurtz and her father George Kurtz. You can catch them at the top of the Flickr photostream.

City's 225th Birthday — While we missed Winchester’s official birthday, we hope you don’t mind a belated gift – an article from 1969 on the 225th birthday of Winchester, with a lead for finding a history written in 1944 to mark the 200th anniversary by William Wood Glass. A number of his surveys on historic sites around Winchester can be found online at the Library of Virginia.

Friday Roundup: Events and Photos

Looking for something to do this weekend? Friday and Saturday is the John Kirby Celebration and 24-hour Jazzathon. The event starts tonight at 8 PM at the Bright Box Theater, 15 N Loudoun St., with a performance by the Shenandoah Conservatory Little Big Band featuring guest artists Tom Williams on trumpet and Charlie Young on alto saxophone. General admission tickets are $12. Additional performances, which will continue on Shenandoah University’s campus and on the Old Town Winchester walking mall, are free and open to the public. Visit Shenandoah University News and Conservatory Performs for more information on the event and scheduled performances.

Mark your calendars for PHW’s first Walk and Learn event of 2018 on Saturday, May 19, 2:30 PM. This free event is PHW’s contribution of National Preservation Month in May, and we will be taking a condensed look at the history of preservation in Winchester with this approximately one mile walking tour. We will take you past a number of significant buildings that have received the Winchester historic building plaque or that have been saved through the Jennings Revolving Fund. We will meet in front of 21 South Loudoun Street at 2:30 PM, the first building marked with the oval bronze building plaque, and stop for a few words and refreshments at 125 East Clifford Street, the latest home to join the ranks of the marked historic buildings. The complete loop of the tour is expected to take one hour. Look for a mailer coming soon with more information!

It would not be a proper Friday without some photos. This week, we added 31 images to Flickr, including one of the porch at 316 Amherst Street, 8 of the Toll House at 800 Amherst Street, and 22 of the Fawcett House from the 1988 Holiday House Tour. Catch all the images at the top of our photostream.

The Fifth Annual John Kirby Day Jazz Festival will be held July 25th from 2-8 PM at the Douglass Community Center, 598 North Kent Street. Proceeds benefit the Boys and Girls Club and Preservation Workdays at the Douglas Learning Center. In addition to the usual jazz festival, several items will be raffled between sets, including two vintage John Kirby albums.

Tickets are $10 in advance or $12 at the door. Contact the Coalition for Racial Unity at CRUBRIDGES@yahoo.com for more information.